Slab construction



P 6, E. RICHARDSON 1,375,888

SLAB CONSTRUCTION 119a Sept. 25, 1929 Patented Sept. 6, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SLAB CONSTRUCTION Application filed September 23, 1929. Serial No. 394,482.

or in the making of doors of even thickness,

and' a method of producing the same. It is a primary object and purpose of the present invention to construct an article of the type noted very simply and readily, whereby there is produced for use in desk or table tops, or in tops of other articles of'furniture, or in doors a relatively light and very practical construction which is substantially impervious to effects of absorbing moisture whereby it will not warp or bend 'out of shape under all conditions and which 5) also has sound deadening properties of some value, particularly in connection with the 'tops of articles of furniture.

An understanding of the invention may be had from the following description taken 30 in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which, I I

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the construction, a part of the upper covering veneers being broken away for a better disclosure of the COIIIFStIHCtiOII. f Y ig. 2 is a ra entar enlar e lon itudinal section thr oii gh one end of the striic-v ture shown in Fig. -1, and I Fig. 3 is a view' similar to Fig. 2 illustrating the manner in which the edges of the structure may be machined or shaped to any desired design. Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures of the drawing.

In the construction, a core 1 of a suitable material such as bagasse, is provided, this bein in the shape of a rectangular flat body whic is made from sugar cane pulp subjected to very high pressure and pressed into the form of a flat-board which can be sawed or otherwise machined to the exact size required and ordered from and finished by the manufacturer in the exact sizes wanted. This inner core 1 of the bagasse or celotex material comes from the manufacturer cut to the desired size Around the core a border of suitable wood is located and secured in place by glue. Theborder comprises sides 2 and ends 3 the thickness of which is the same as the thiclmess of the core 1. At

the upper and lower sides of the core and border frame members the veneers are placed and glued in place, the usual cross banding 4 being glued directly to the upper and lower sides of the core 1 and the border frame mem- [up bers 2 and 3, while the finish veneers 5 of suitable wood are glued above and below the h cross banding. The-material of the border frame members 2 and 3 and of the veneers 5, at least that of the upper veneer, is the same and may be mahogany, walnut or other wood capable of'taking a fine finish to present a very attractive and pleasing appear- I ance when finished. The lower veneer 5 need not be of expensive material as it is ordi- {ill narily notexposed to View. 3 After the structure has been built up in the manner described and the glue has dried and set the structure is finished in the usual manner. The edges may be cut to any'suit- L20 able. design, as indicated at 6, and the top and bottom -may be sanded or otherwise properly smoothed and the whole thereafter stained and finished in the ordinary manner.

With a construction as described the ma- I" terial used in the core insures that there will be no warping because of moisture absorption.' While the bagasse is capable of receivingand absorbing moisture, any moisture is localized at the places where it '80 is applied anddoes not seep or spread through the material as with a wood core in which the moisture follows the grain of the wood, causing the same to swell whereupon there is warping and bending which when it has 88 once occurred is exceedingly-hard to correct; The bagasse' or celotex material, which is of a' fibrous pulp nature, is also very light and has sounddeadeni'ng properties both of which qualities are desirable in the c0nstruc- 90 tion of furniture tops and doors. In addition the celotex or bagasse material is veryeconomical to use and with it the cost of manufacture can be greatly reduced.

The inventionis defined in the appended ,claim and, is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within their Scope. 1

I claim: c

A top of the class described comprising,

a flat core of uniform thickness of homogeneous bagasse, a Wood frame having sides and ends of the same thickness as the core located around said core at its edges and secured thereto, and eneers lued to the opposite sides of the core and rame, said bagasse being capable of receivingv and absorbing moisture.

- In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

BAYARD E. RICHARDSON. 

